Strained and unstrained semiconductor device features formed on the same substrate

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a configuration of semiconductor devices having a substrate and a first feature formed on the substrate, wherein the first feature includes a first preserve region having compressive strain that extends throughout the first preserve region, and wherein the first feature further includes a cut region that includes a converted dielectric. The converted dielectric is a dielectric material that has been converted to the dielectric from another material.

DOMESTIC PRIORITY

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.15/584,159, titled “STRAINED AND UNSTRAINED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICEFEATURES FORMED ON THE SAME SUBSTRATE” filed May 2, 2017, which is adivisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/196,298, now U.S. Pat. No.9,917,154, titled “STRAINED AND UNSTRAINED SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FEATURESFORMED ON THE SAME SUBSTRATE” filed Jun. 29, 2016, the contents of whichare incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relates in general to semiconductordevices for use in integrated circuits (ICs). More specifically,embodiments of the present invention relates to improved fabricationmethodologies and resulting structures for semiconductor deviceconfigurations (e.g., fin-type field effect transistors (FinFETs))having strained and unstrained semiconductor device features formed onthe same substrate.

Transistors are fundamental device elements of modern digital processorsand memory devices. There are a variety of transistor types and designsthat may be used for different applications, including, for example,bipolar junction transistors (BJT), junction field-effect transistors(JFET), and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET).One type of transistor that has emerged within the MOSFET family oftransistors, and which shows promise for scaling to ultra-high densityand nanometer-scale channel lengths, is a so-called FinFET device. Thechannel of a FinFET is formed in a three-dimensional fin that may extendfrom a surface of a substrate, and the transistor's channel can beformed on three surfaces of the fin. Accordingly, FinFETs can exhibit ahigh current switching capability for a given surface area occupied onsubstrate.

The use of silicon germanium in semiconductor devices such as FinFETsprovides desirable device characteristics, including the introduction ofstrain at the interface between the silicon germanium of the activedevice and the underlying semiconductor substrate. Accordingly, it isdesirable to provide compressive strain in some features of asemiconductor device, including, for example, the fin of a fin-basedsemiconductor device such as a FinFET.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are directed to a method of forming a feature of asemiconductor device. The method includes forming the feature from asemiconductor material having compressive strain that extends throughouta cut region of the feature and throughout a preserve region of thefeature. The method further includes converting the cut region of thefeature to a dielectric.

Embodiments are further directed to a method of forming features ofsemiconductor devices. The method includes forming a first feature on asubstrate, wherein the first feature comprises a first semiconductormaterial having compressive strain that extends throughout a first cutregion of the first feature and throughout a first preserve region ofthe first feature. The method further includes forming a second featureon the substrate, wherein the second feature comprises a secondsemiconductor material having substantially no compressive strainextending throughout a second cut region of the second feature andthroughout a second preserve region of the second feature. The methodfurther includes converting the first cut region of the feature to adielectric, introducing compressive strain into the second cut region,and removing the second cut region from the second feature.

Embodiments are further directed to a configuration of semiconductordevices having a substrate and a first feature formed on the substrate,wherein the first feature includes a first preserve region havingcompressive strain that extends throughout the first preserve region,and wherein the first feature further includes a cut region comprising adielectric.

Additional features and advantages are realized through techniquesdescribed herein. Other embodiments and aspects are described in detailherein. For a better understanding, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as embodiments is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The foregoing and other features and advantages ofthe embodiments are apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a three-dimensional view of an exemplary configuration ofa known FinFET device;

FIG. 2 depicts a three-dimensional view of a strained and unstrained finconfiguration that results from employing the teachings of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 depicts a three-dimensional view of an initial fabrication stagefor a fin configuration according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 5 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 6 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 7 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 8 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 9 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 10 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 11 depicts a three-dimensional view of another intermediatefabrication stage for a fin configuration according to one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 12 depicts a cross-sectional view of a final fabrication stage fora fin configuration according to one or more embodiments;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a methodology according to one ormore embodiments; and

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a methodology according to one ormore embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that, although this disclosure includes adetailed description of p-type and n-type FinFET devices having silicongermanium and silicon fins, implementation of the teachings recitedherein are not limited to a particular type of FET structure. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of fin-based transistor device, nowknown or later developed.

Various embodiments of the present invention are described herein withreference to the related drawings. Alternative embodiments may bedevised without departing from the scope of this invention. It is notedthat various connections and positional relationships (e.g., over,below, adjacent, etc.) are set forth between elements in the followingdescription and in the drawings. These connections and/or positionalrelationships, unless specified otherwise, may be direct or indirect,and the present invention is not intended to be limiting in thisrespect. Accordingly, a coupling of entities may refer to either adirect or an indirect coupling, and a positional relationship betweenentities may be a direct or indirect positional relationship. As anexample of an indirect positional relationship, references in thepresent disclosure to forming layer “A” over layer “B” includesituations in which one or more intermediate layers (e.g., layer “C”) isbetween layer “A” and layer “B” as long as the relevant characteristicsand functionalities of layer “A” and layer “B” are not substantiallychanged by the intermediate layer(s).

The following definitions and abbreviations are to be used for theinterpretation of the claims and the specification. As used herein, theterms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,”“having,” “contains” or “containing,” or any other variation thereof,are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, acomposition, a mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only thoseelements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such composition, mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus.

Additionally, the term “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as anexample, instance or illustration.” Any embodiment or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments or designs. The terms “at least one”and “one or more” may be understood to include any integer numbergreater than or equal to one, i.e. one, two, three, four, etc. The terms“a plurality” may be understood to include any integer number greaterthan or equal to two, i.e. two, three, four, five, etc. The term“connection” may include both an indirect “connection” and a direct“connection.”

For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques related tosemiconductor device and IC fabrication may not be described in detailherein. Moreover, the various tasks and process steps described hereinmay be incorporated into a more comprehensive procedure or processhaving additional steps or functionality not described in detail herein.In particular, various steps in the fabrication of semiconductor devicesand semiconductor-based ICs are well known and so, in the interest ofbrevity, many conventional steps will only be mentioned briefly hereinor will be omitted entirely without providing the well-known processdetails.

By way of background, however, a more general description of thesemiconductor device fabrication processes that may be utilized inimplementing one or more embodiments of the present invention will nowbe provided. Although specific fabrication operations used inimplementing one or more embodiments of the present invention may beindividually known, the disclosed combination of operations and/orresulting structures of the present invention are unique. Thus, theunique combination of the operations described according to embodimentsof the present invention utilize a variety of individually knownphysical and chemical processes performed on a semiconductor (e.g.,silicon) substrate, some of which are described in the followingimmediately following paragraphs.

In general, the various processes used to form a micro-chip that will bepackaged into an IC fall into four general categories, namely, filmdeposition, removal/etching, semiconductor doping andpatterning/lithography. Deposition is any process that grows, coats, orotherwise transfers a material onto the wafer. Available technologiesinclude physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition(CVD), electrochemical deposition (ECD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)and more recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD) among others.Removal/etching is any process that removes material from the wafer.Examples include etch processes (either wet or dry), andchemical-mechanical planarization (CMP), and the like. Semiconductordoping is the modification of electrical properties by doping, forexample, transistor sources and drains, generally by diffusion and/or byion implantation. These doping processes are followed by furnaceannealing or by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Annealing serves toactivate the implanted dopants. Films of both conductors (e.g.,poly-silicon, aluminum, copper, etc.) and insulators (e.g., variousforms of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, etc.) are used to connect andisolate transistors and their components. Selective doping of variousregions of the semiconductor substrate allows the conductivity of thesubstrate to be changed with the application of voltage. By creatingstructures of these various components, millions of transistors can bebuilt and wired together to form the complex circuitry of a modernmicroelectronic device.

Fundamental to the above-described fabrication processes issemiconductor lithography, i.e., the formation of three-dimensionalrelief images or patterns on the semiconductor substrate for subsequenttransfer of the pattern to the substrate. In semiconductor lithography,the patterns are a light sensitive polymer called a photo-resist. Tobuild the complex structures that make up a transistor and the manywires that connect the millions of transistors of a circuit, lithographyand etch pattern transfer steps are repeated multiple times. Eachpattern being printed on the wafer is aligned to the previously formedpatterns and slowly the conductors, insulators and selectively dopedregions are built up to form the final device.

Semiconductor devices are typically formed using active regions of awafer. The active regions are defined by isolation regions used toseparate and electrically isolate adjacent semiconductor devices. Forexample, in an integrated circuit having a plurality of metal oxidesemiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), each MOSFET has asource and a drain that are formed in an active region of asemiconductor layer by implanting n-type or p-type impurities in thelayer of semiconductor material. Disposed between the source and thedrain is a channel (or body) region. Disposed above the body region is agate electrode. The gate electrode and the body are spaced apart by agate dielectric layer.

One particularly advantageous type of MOSFET is known generally as afin-type field effect transistor (FinFET), an example of which is shownin FIG. 1 as a three-dimensional view of a FinFET 100. The basicelectrical layout and mode of operation of FinFET 100 do not differsignificantly from a traditional field effect transistor. FinFET 100includes a semiconductor substrate 102, a shallow trench isolation (STI)layer 104, a fin 106 and a gate 114, configured and arranged as shown.Fin 106 includes a source region 108, a drain region 110 and a channelregion 112, wherein gate 114 extends over the top and sides of channelregion 112. For ease of illustration, a single fin is shown in FIG. 1.In practice, FinFET devices are fabricated having multiple fins formedon STI 104 and substrate 102. Substrate 102 may be silicon, STI 104 maybe an oxide (e.g., Silicon oxide) and fin 106 may be silicon that hasbeen enriched to a desired concentration level of germanium. Gate 114controls the source to drain current flow (labeled ELECTRICITY FLOW inFIG. 1).

In contrast to planar MOSFETs, source 108, drain 110 and channel 112 arebuilt as a three-dimensional bar on top of STI layer 104 andsemiconductor substrate 102. The three-dimensional bar is theaforementioned “fin 106,” which serves as the body of the device. Thegate electrode is then wrapped over the top and sides of the fin, andthe portion of the fin that is under the gate electrode functions as thechannel. The source and drain regions are the portions of the fin oneither side of the channel that are not under the gate electrode. Thedimensions of the fin establish the effective channel length for thetransistor.

The use of silicon germanium in semiconductor devices provides desirabledevice characteristics, including the introduction of strain at theinterface between the silicon germanium of the active device and theunderlying semiconductor substrate. In general, a strainedsemiconductor's atoms are stretched beyond their normal inter-atomicdistances. As the atoms in the silicon align with the atoms of thesilicon germanium (which are arranged a little farther apart, withrespect to those of a bulk silicon crystal), the links between thesilicon germanium atoms become stretched, thereby leading to strainedsilicon germanium. Moving atoms farther apart reduces the atomic forcesthat interfere with the movement of electrons through the silicongermanium, which results in better mobility, better chip performance andlower energy consumption. The faster moving electrons in strainedsilicon germanium allow faster switching in transistors having strainedsilicon germanium channel regions.

The compressive strain (typically expressed as a percentage) introducedby using silicon germanium in the active region of a semiconductordevice is based on the concentration of germanium introduced into thesilicon. For example, a silicon germanium feature (e.g., a fin) having a25% concentration of germanium can exhibit a nominal compressive strainof 0.01 (or 1%) with a +/−2% variation. It is desirable to substantiallymaintain the compressive strain within a predetermined variationthroughout the volume of the feature.

However, when silicon germanium fins are cut into desired lengths tomeet device and/or IC design requirements, strain relaxes at the ends ofthe fin ends. For example, in a silicon germanium feature (e.g., a fin)having a 25% concentration of germanium and a nominal compressive strainof 0.01 (or 1%) with a +/−2% variation throughout its uncut volume, whenthe feature is cut to meet design requirement, the compressive strain atthe cut ends of the feature is relaxed outside the +/−2% variation. Theloss of compressive strain at the ends of the silicon germanium featurecauses device degradation and variation. Accordingly, there is a need tofabricate strained semiconductor device features having the desireddimensions but without the relaxation or removal of compressive strainfrom the ends of the feature.

Turning now to an overview of the present invention, one or moreembodiments provide a feature fabrication methodology that allows forthe fabrication of strained semiconductor device features having thedesired dimensions but without the relaxation or removal of compressivestrain from the ends of the feature. In one or more embodiments, thefeature is a fin structure, and the methodology begins by forming theinitial fin structure on a substrate. In one or more embodiments, theinitial fin structure is a strained fin formed from silicon germaniumhaving s predetermined percentage of compressive strain with apredetermined +/− variation in the compressive strain level throughoutthe initial fin structure. Cut regions and preserve regions are selectedon the initial fin structure. In general, the preserve region(s) are theportions of the initial fin structure that will provide the findimensions required by the semiconductor and/or IC design, and the cutregions are the portions of the initial fin structure that areextraneous beyond the fin dimensions required by the semiconductorand/or IC design. In downstream processes, the silicon germaniumpreserve regions of the fins will be used to form p-type FETs.

In the disclosed methodology, instead of removing the cut region, whichwould result in a relaxation and/or a removal of compressive strain atthe cut end of the preserve region, one or more embodiments of thepresent invention convert the strained silicon germanium fin material inthe cut region to a dielectric. In one or more embodiments, the silicongermanium fin material in the cut region is converted to a dielectric byapplying an oxidation (e.g., a thermal oxidation) to the cut regions toconvert the cut regions to an oxide. The resulting structure is thepreserve region anchored by an oxide region, wherein the oxide regionthe strained cut region prior to oxidation. The strained preserve regionis never physically cut, so there is no compressive strain relaxation atthe end of the preserve region. Additionally, oxidation induced volumeexpansion in the oxide region, which is anchored to the preserve region,further enhances compressive strain in the strained preserve region.

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, multiple initialfin structures are formed on the substrate, and some of the initial finstructures are silicon having substantially no compressive strain. Indownstream processes, the silicon fins will be used to form n-type FETs.When the above described methodology is applied to the silicon initialfin structures, the oxide regions that anchor the silicon fin preserveregion introduce compressive strain, which is undesirable for n-typeFETs. Embodiments of the present invention remove the oxide region fromthe silicon preserve region, thereby removing compressive strain fromthe silicon preserve region. Accordingly, embodiments of the presentinvention enable the fabrication of both strained FET structures (e.g.,silicon germanium p-type FETs) and non-strained FET structures (e.g.,n-type FETs) on the same substrate.

Turning now to a more detailed description of the present invention,FIG. 2 depicts a semiconductor device structure 200 having strained andunstrained features formed on the same substrate in accordance with oneor more embodiments. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the feature is afin that will ultimately form an active region (e.g., a channel, asource, a drain, etc.) of a p-type or an n-type FET, and the fins areeither strained fins formed from silicon germanium, or unstrained finsformed from silicon. Structure 200 includes a substrate 202, shallowtrench isolation regions (STIs) 502, silicon fins 1202, silicongermanium fins 404, and oxide anchors/blocks 1002, configured andarranged as shown. The fins 404, 1202 define preserve regions 210 ofstructure 200, and the oxide anchors/blocks 1002 define cut regions 220of structure 200. In the cut regions 220 adjacent to the unstrainedsilicon fins 1202, the oxide anchors 1002 have been removed.

A methodology for fabricating structure 200 according to one moreembodiments of the present invention will now be described withreference to FIGS. 3-14. FIGS. 3-12 depict three-dimensional views of asemiconductor structure 200A after various fabrication stages inaccordance with one or more embodiments. FIG. 13 depicts a flow diagramillustrating a fabrication methodology 1300 according to one or moreembodiments. FIG. 14 depicts a flow diagram illustrating anotherfabrication methodology 1300 according to one or more embodiments. Adescription of exemplary fabrication methodologies for forming structure200 shown in FIG. 2 according to one or more embodiment of the presentinvention will now be provided with reference to the fabrication stagesshown in FIGS. 3-13, as well as methodologies 1300, 1400 shown in FIGS.13 and 14.

As shown in FIG. 3, in an initial fabrication stage of structure 200Aaccording to one or more embodiments, a substrate 202 is formed usingknown semiconductor fabrication techniques (block 1302, block 1402). Theportion(s) of substrate 202 on which the unstrained silicon fins will beformed are masked (not shown), and silicon germanium 302 is epitaxiallygrown on the unmasked portion(s) of the silicon substrate 202.

In FIGS. 4-11, for ease of illustration, only the strained silicongermanium portions of the structure 200A fins are shown. However, thefabrication operations illustrated in FIGS. 4-11 are appliedsimultaneously to the unstrained silicon portions of the structure 200A.

As shown in FIG. 4, a hard mask layer (not shown) is formed over thestrained silicon germanium 302. The hard mask layer is patterned, andthen hard masks 406 and strained silicon germanium fins 404 are formedby applying an anisotropic etch process (block 1304, block 1404).Because there is no stop layer on substrate 202, the etch process istime based. Hardmasks 406 may be a silicon nitride material (e.g.,Si₃Ni₄).

In FIG. 5, a local oxide (e.g., silicon oxide) is deposited between fins402 (including the lower portion of the fins formed from the siliconsubstrate 202) and over substrate 202. The local oxide is polished andrecessed back to form STI regions 506, and to expose upper portions ofthe strained silicon germanium fins 404 (block 1306, block 1408). InFIG. 6, a nitride layer 602 is applied over the sidewalls of fins 404and STI 502 (block 1308, block 1410).

In FIG. 7, fin cut masks 702 are applied over nitride layer 602 andhardmasks 406 (block 1310, block 1412). Each cut mask 702 includes adimension L-CM, which defines the preserve region 210 of the fins 404.The dimension L-CM is selected to match a selected length of the fin404. The areas of the hardmasks 406 and fins 404 not covered by fin cutmasks 702 define the cut regions 220. In FIG. 8, nitride layer 602 isetched in the cut regions 220 to expose the portions of the strainedsilicon germanium fins 440 that are in the cut regions 220 (block 1312,block 1414). In FIG. 9, the fin cut mask 702 is stripped (block 1314,block 1414).

In FIG. 10, an oxidation (e.g., a thermal oxidation) is performed toconvert the portions of the strained silicon germanium fins 404 that arein the cut regions 210 into an oxide, thereby forming oxideanchors/blocks 1002 (block 1316, block 1418). In FIG. 11, the nitridelayer 602 is stripped. Because the strained silicon germanium fins 404are never cut to arrive at the desired preserve region 210 dimensions,there is no strain relaxation in the ends of the portions of thestrained silicon germanium fins 404 that are in the preserve regions210. For example, if the strained silicon germanium fins 404, prior tothe oxidation shown in FIG. 10, have a 25% concentration of germanium,the strained silicon germanium fins 404 can exhibit a nominalcompressive strain of 0.01 (or 1%) with a +/−2% variation. Using thefabrication methodologies of embodiments of the present invention toform the preserve region 210 subsequent to the oxidation shown in FIG.10, there is no relaxation in the nominal compressive strain of 0.01 (or1%) with a +/−2% variation. In fact, due to oxidation induced volumeexpansion of the oxide anchors/blocks 1002, compressive strain in theportions of the silicon germanium fins 404 that are in the preserveregion 210 is enhanced above the nominal compressive strain that waspresent prior to formation of the oxide blocks/anchors 1002.

FIG. 12 depicts the structure 200A showing the strained fins 404 and theunstrained fins and the unstrained fins 1202. Because, theabove-described fabrication processes where applied simultaneously tothe strained fins 404 and the unstrained fins 1202 (block 1406), oxideblocks/anchors 1002 also anchor the ends of the unstrained fins 1202.For the unstrained fins 1202, formation of the oxide blocks/anchors 1002in the cut regions 220 introduces compressive strain to the previouslyunstrained portions of the fins 1202 that are in the preserve region210. As previously noted, the unstrained fins will be used to formn-type FET devices. The compressive strain due to oxidation is undesiredfor silicon n-type FET devices. Accordingly, the oxide blocks/anchors1002 at the ends of the silicon fins 1202 are removed, which removes thecompressive strain introduced to the silicon fins 1202 in the preserveregions 210 by the oxide blocks/anchors 1002 (block 1420). The oxideblocks/anchors 1002 that are adjacent the silicon fins 1202 may beremoved using any suitable technique, including, for example, the use ofan appropriately patterned block mask (not shown) to protect the SiGefins followed by an etch process.

After removal of the oxide blocks/anchors 1002 that are adjacent to thesilicon fins 1202, structure 200A is now the same as structure 200 inFIG. 2. In structure 200, both the strained silicon germanium fins 404and the unstrained silicon fins 1202 are formed in the same substrate202. The strained silicon germanium fins 404 have oxide anchors/blocks1002 at the fin ends to maintain and enhance compressive strain in theportions of the strained silicon germanium fins 404 that are located inthe preserve regions 210. The unstrained silicon fins 1202 have no oxideat the fin ends to avoid compressive strain in the silicon fins 1202.Structure 200 may now be further processed using known fabricationtechniques to form p-type FET devices (e.g., p-type FinFETs) from thestrained silicon germanium fins 404 in the preserve regions 210, andform n-type FET devices (e.g., n-type FinFETs) from the unstrainedsilicon fins 1202 in the preserve regions 210 (block 1318, block 1422,block 1424).

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the presentinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,element components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A configuration of semiconductor devicescomprising: a substrate; and a first feature formed over the substrate;wherein the first feature comprises a first preserve region havingcompressive strain that extends throughout the first preserve region;wherein the first feature comprises a first cut region having aconverted dielectric extending through an entirety of the first cutregion, the converted dielectric comprising a dielectric material thathas been converted to the dielectric from another material; wherein thecompressive strain extending throughout the first preserve regioncomprises a predetermined percentage of compressive strain.
 2. Thesemiconductor devices of claim 1, wherein the cut region does not reducethe predetermined percentage.
 3. The semiconductor devices of claim 1further comprising a second feature formed over the substrate.
 4. Thesemiconductor devices of claim 3, wherein the second feature comprises asecond preserve region having substantially no compressive strain. 5.The semiconductor devices of claim 4, wherein the first featurecomprises a first fin.
 6. The semiconductor devices of claim 5, whereinthe first preserve region comprises a channel region of the first fin.7. The semiconductor devices of claim 6, wherein the second featurecomprises a second fin.
 8. The semiconductor devices of claim 4, whereinthe first preserve region comprises silicon germanium.
 9. Thesemiconductor devices of claim 8, wherein the dielectric of the firstcut region comprises an oxide.
 10. The semiconductor devices of claim 9,wherein the second preserve region comprises silicon.
 11. Aconfiguration of semiconductor devices comprising: a substrate; and afirst feature formed over the substrate; wherein the first featurecomprises a first preserve region having compressive strain that extendsthroughout the first preserve region; wherein the first preserve regioncomprises a first type of semiconductor material; wherein the firstfeature comprises a first cut region having a converted dielectricextending through an entirety of the first cut region, the converteddielectric comprising a dielectric material that has been converted tothe dielectric from another material; wherein the compressive strainextending throughout the first preserve region comprises a predeterminedpercentage of compressive strain.
 12. The semiconductor devices of claim11, wherein the cut region does not reduce the predetermined percentage.13. The semiconductor devices of claim 11 further comprising a secondfeature formed over the substrate.
 14. The semiconductor devices ofclaim 13, wherein: the second feature comprises a second preserve regionhaving substantially no compressive strain; and the second preserveregion comprises a second type of semiconductor material.
 15. Thesemiconductor devices of claim 14, wherein the first feature comprises afirst fin.
 16. The semiconductor devices of claim 15, wherein the firstpreserve region comprises a channel region of the first fin.
 17. Thesemiconductor devices of claim 16, wherein the second feature comprisesa second fin.
 18. The semiconductor devices of claim 14, wherein thefirst type of semiconductor material comprises silicon germanium. 19.The semiconductor devices of claim 18, wherein the dielectric of thefirst cut region comprises an oxide.
 20. The semiconductor devices ofclaim 19, wherein the second type of semiconductor material comprisessilicon.